Processing hosts often operate in conjunction with one or more peripheral devices. Such devices may allow interfacing with a communications network, a storage system, or a graphics processor, for example. In some cases, an administrator may want to add a custom peripheral device. In a system in which a connected set of hosts is being managed, the administrator determines the appropriate host with which the device is to operate, and manually inserts the physical device. If the device communicates with other components using a protocol, consistent with the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) standard, the administrator must find an extra slot that is compatible with such a device. In some cases, an administrator may want to deploy his own choice of device to make use of a custom application used by hosts in the cartridge. This may not be feasible if the device must be certified by a particular manufacturer in order that a particular discovery and association protocol may be used. Difficulties in attaching a peripheral can occur in other contexts as well. In some situations, the PCIe device may be a device that is compatible with the Single Root Input Output Virtualization (SRIOV) specification. In such cases where the host is unable to make use of the SRIOV capabilities, the resources represented by the virtual functions are unused, making the device practically underutilized. Further, the addition of a PCIe device can be complicated by the need to reboot the OS of a host. Some users need to have application specific PCIe devices that could be used for the specific purpose of deployment in a running chassis. Users generally prefer to avoid rebooting a host or server when adding a new PCIe device. In response, protocols have been developed for “hot plugging” of a PCIe device into a cartridge. Issues can arise if the administrator wants to move a device to a different host or server. Currently there is no mechanism available in the industry to support on-the-fly mapping of the device to a different physical host or server in the same chassis without requiring manual intervention.